Retail Spotlight: Extra Butter (Interview)

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The Extra Butter crew has Long Island on lock. Although the retail store is situated just 30 minuetes from New York City, Extra Butter keeps it close to home by hosting nights where they watch sports games, have bands play and have in-store video game competitions, just to name a few. We recently caught up with Jason at Extra Butter to breakdown his relationship with the New Balance brand and get insight on trends in his area. (All photos provided by Extra Butter)

How do you feel about the currently state of the sneaker game?
I feel the current state of the sneaker game is in good shape. I’m only skeptical about saturation, but I feel great about the influx of younger kids of this generation adding to the culture. There’s as broad a spectrum as there has ever been as far as brands and even categories amongst brands that offer a lot for all sorts of people to get into and fall in love with.

What is the best selling New Balance runner at your store?
When we first opened up we had received some 574’s where the colors were based off the colors of popular convenience stores. Those did really well and while 574’s have had their ups and downs, the right colorways and stories will always go. These days the 990’s would be the most fiended for. I think there’s a lot of value in the 990’s at their price point, and it’s just a smooth looking shoe overall.

How long have you carried New Balance at your store?
We’ve worked with New Balance since we opened 5 years ago, but we’re only recently getting back on track with some better offerings and will now be bringing it in with a lot more consistency moving forward.

What do you take into account when choosing a New Balance shoe for your store?Well with New Balance there’s always the inherent quality. With the noticeable high quality craftsmanship built in there’s never any questions there, so we know what we’re buying into. As for the final call when choosing shoes for the shop, it usually goes down to color palettes we find ourselves gravitating towards.

What do you see New Balance doing differently than other brands?All brands have their way of doing simple, but New Balance always seems to deliver a refined simplicity that hits on all levels. As I mentioned before, when fit and craftsmanship is worked in – it all comes together on a level that seems unmatched. The other thing is their Made in the U.S. product, which is something totally unique and received with much admiration from our consumers.

How do you feel about the amount of New Balances being dropped?
I’m usually one to avoid cliches, but “the more the merrier”. I enjoy the variety in silhouettes, styles, and colors…and of course the collabs.

What do you feel is the most important part of a New Balance shoe? Why?I started out working at a mom & pop shop. The type where grey 992’s were shop staples with an assortment of other tech running models. I remember when I first learned about New Balance’s “Rollbar” technology I was pretty fascinated. A stability feature like that became very appealing to me, and over time I really cherished it’s function whenever it was implemented into shoes I wore.

What makes New Balance memorable? Why?
Aside from becoming a fan of the brand through it’s overall comfort and craftsmanship, what makes the brand so memorable to me these days is a project they did a couple of years back with Sneaker Freaker. They used the gorgeous 850 and created “Skippy” in a standout colorway with an equally amazing promo video featuring a kangaroo. It was a retro style video based off an old tv show I believe, and was just hysterical seeing the kangaroo hop around wearing the 850’s. I thought it was one of the most creative collab stories to date, and became a grail of mine as far as New Balance is concerned.

Can we expect any new collaborations with New Balance and your store?We’d love the opportunity to collaborate with New Balance. They’ve got great people at their company, and I can definitely say I have a book with a couple pages of notes and ideas if the opportunity ever presented itself. It’d be based on what I believe the name “New Balance” means to me….but that’s all I’m going to say. That and I hope we get to give it a shot.

Any last thoughts or comments on New Balance you want to leave us with?I’m just thrilled with the way people and shops are coming out with massive energy these days as ambassadors for New Balance, really owning the company’s core aspects and products in a full circle way. I think it leads to a very long and positive road ahead for New Balance, and I couldn’t be more excited to see how it continues to take shape.